Post your latest ancient!

Here is a group I got in the mail today, changing things up a bit from the usual Greco-Roman stuff:



There's a timeless element to these ancient Chinese coins that I find appealing. I was reading up on some of the history of these ancient Chinese empires and it is really fascinating - a whole different world of cultural splendor no less impressive than the ancient Greeks or Romans.
And to top things off these coins are fairly inexpensive, too.

What are your latest ancient coin purchases? Post 'em up!

PS I'll have a lot more to contribute here soon...

 

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Love those cash coins!

FFIVN and I each got a coin this week. He got a new cash coin and I got a new emperor:

 

Something different for me.



Parthian Empire, Orodes II, 57 - 38 B.C.

96023. Silver drachm, Sellwood 47.9; Shore 241; SNG Cop 100; BMC Parthia p. 88, 173; Sunrise 373, EF, light rose tone on luster, excellent portrait, light marks, irregular flan shape, 3.647g, 20.3mm, 0o, Mithradatkart (near Askabad in Turkmenistan) mint, 50 - 42 B.C.; obverse bearded and diademed bust left, short beard, torque ends in pellet, star upper left, crescent upper right; reverse BASILEWS / BASILEWN - ARSAKOU - EUERGETOU / DIKAIOU - EPIFANOUS / FILELLHNOS (slightly blundered), archer wearing bashlyk and cloak seated right on throne, bow in right, (Mithradatkart monogram) below bow, squared seven-line legend around; from the Errett Bishop Collection

 

@furryfrog02 Which emperor is that? Nice coins!

@BenSi Very nice! I haven't looked into Parthian coins much (yet). Yours looks like a very fine example.

 

Here's the dealer-provided image of my newest (and first) ancient coin. It's a silver antoninianus of Gordian III, about 20mm in diameter. I'm really happy to have it and now I'll be collecting a lot more ancients. I really like big coins, and I just found out that sestertii exist so now I'm on the hunt for one of those.

 

Nice additions, @The Meat man. I like the different script styles on your coins.

My latest ancient is a Faustina Junior denarius with four children on the reverse. I have one, two and six children reverse design in my collection, but lacking this type. Glad to locate a decent example.

Seller photo. I just received the coin today. Haven't opened the package yet...

 

My most recent that I've received this this humble Quintillus.

Quintillus - VBERITAS AVG - Siscia - RIC V-1 79

 

Licinius II

 

My latest ancient addition was another quite nice Gallienus coin:
Emperor Gallienus - Antoninianus - ROMAE AETERNAE - Antioch mint

 

I participated last weekend in an auction - probably my last for a while as I am developing a new "hobby" - visits to the dentist. This will eat all my budget but priorities are priorities.
The auction was successful - I won my major targets and I had unexpected success in snacks - interesting and cheap coins.

This is one of them and it would be, at least for the moment, my last coin in the album, a nice Honorius on a small flan but with nice details.

 

I purchased these at Ken Dorney's last auction. Not much for Chinese coins, but needed a snack to travel with my Philip V MSC. It's from around the same time period, both are from the time of the Roman Republic though neither Roman:

 

I bought this little snack from Marc Breitsprecher because I liked the patina and I've had my eye on it for a while. Since I have already written about Hadrianopolis and I and Jochen have already written about Homonoia, there's not much point in making it the subject of a Faustina Friday installment. So, it's making its CT debut here!


Faustina II, AD 147-149.
Roman provincial Æ 21.9 mm, 5.03 mm, 1 h.
Thrace, Hadrianopolis, AD 161-175.
Obv: ΦΑVϹΤΕΙΝΑ ϹΕΒΑϹΤΗ; draped bust, right, wearing a double strand of pearls around the head.
Rev: ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟ-ΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ; Homonoia standing facing, head left, wearing kalathos, holding patera and cornucopia.
Refs: RPC IV.1, 3916 (temporary); SNG Cop 559; Varbanov 3236; BMC 3.117, 6 var.

 

I am just confirming there are 2 sides to this coin (the # 2)\


KINGS OF MACEDON.
Philip II, 359-336 BCE
Æ18, 6. 7g, 2h
struck 359-336 BCE
Obv. : Head of Apollo left, hair bound in tainia.
Rev. : ΦIΛIΠΠOY Youth on horseback galloping left, head of lion right below.
Ref. : SNG ANS 872-4 SNG Alpha Bank 371-3
Ex: @John Anthony
Comment: Harder to get Left-Left facing.
(already had one, but hey, I thought this was a COOL Coin...)

 

Ha! I bought #3!

 

Not to brag or anything, but I'm #

 

LOL, YEAH! But, I got the PHILIP II... the GREATEST of all Generals, Kings, Nation Makers, and he even made Alexander III.

Here is my OTHER Philip II LEFT-LEFT


Makedon
Philip II
359-336 BCE
AE 17 Horse Rider
LEFT-LEFT facing scarce

 

Nice coins, everyone! Here is my latest ancient acquisition, which came from our own @John Anthony :


Ptolemy II Philadelphos, Ptolemaic Kings of Egypt, AE drachm (?), 285–246 BC, probably struck in the mid to late 260s BC, Alexandreia mint. Obv.: Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon r. Rev.: Two eagles standing l. on thunderbolt; Λ between legs of l. eagle. 40mm, 73.6g. Ref: Svoronos 479; SNG Copenhagen 149.

 

Beefy! I love it!

 

I'll share a handful of RR bronzes I recently received. I have a denarius that deserves its own post that I'll share soon elsewhere:

A very nice corn-ear sextans struck on Sicily during the Second Punic War




A worn example of this famous type featuring Janus with the features of Pompey the great but it had a lot going for it that I was a fan of: full legends, natural un-messed with patina, not tooled. This type in particular seems like it comes tooled more often than not so I was happy to find a nice, natural example recently.

Roman Imperatorial Period Æ as(17.04g, 29mm), Sextus Pompey, Imperator and Praefect of the Fleet, 43-36 B.C., Sicilian mint. Laureate head of Janus with features of Pompey the Great; above, MAGN / Prow of galley right, PIVS above, IMP below. Sear HCRI 336; Crawford 379/1; RPC I 671.

An extremely rare sextans of the SAX series, probably the sixth or seventh known example:

Roman Republic Æ Sextans(6.82g, 20mm). Cluvius Saxula, moneyer, 169-158 BC. Rome mint(or perhaps Central Italian mint). Head of Mercury right wearing winged Petasos, •• above / Prow of galley right; SAX above, •• before, ROMA below. Crawford 180/5; Russo RBW 765/(Central Italian Mint); Sydenham 361d

Another extremely rare sextans, this time of the M FABRINI series, and in excellent condition for the type:

Roman Republic Æ sextans(3.6g, 17mm). M Fabrinius, moneyer, 132 B.C. Rome mint. Head of young Mercury right, wearing winged Petasos with caduceus over shoulder; ·· behind / M FABRI NI, prow of galley right; before, ··. ROMA below. Crawford 251/4

 

Like @BenSi , I go with a Parthian.